Doc gives second opinion, says Celtics wanted trade to Clippers

Thursday

Jun 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2013 at 8:13 AM

Doc Rivers said he never demanded out of Boston, although he did admit to dragging his feet when it came to committing to next season. He said it was Ainge who first broached the idea of a trade to the Clippers.

Scott Souza/Daily News staff

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and former coach Doc Rivers both talked publicly in the last two days. They spoke about how much they worked together over the past month leading up to the deal on Monday that allowed Rivers to become coach of the Los Angeles Clippers.

But for two guys who have been partners the past nine years, and supposedly remained so close during the carnival-like process that ended with the Celtics receiving a 2015 first-round draft pick and the Clippers getting Rivers, each sure has a different recollection of how this all went down.

Ainge said Tuesday night the Celtics always wanted Rivers back on the bench next season — even sending him an official letter stating those intentions on May 9 — but that, ultimately, Rivers decided he’d rather be in Los Angeles. The coach had his chance to speak with Boston media Wednesday and offered a much different perspective.

Rivers said he never demanded out of Boston, although he did admit to dragging his feet when it came to committing to next season. He said it was Ainge who first broached the idea of a trade to the Clippers. He added during a conference call from Los Angeles that he had called Ainge on Sunday morning to declare his intent to return to Boston — even amid a rebuilding year — before Ainge called him back two hours later to inform him the deal was reached.

"This is not a one-trick pony deal where I was the only one fueling this," Rivers said. "I never pushed this deal."

Rivers said he had a conversation about the laborious trade talks with managing partner Steve Pagliuca over the weekend in which he got the feeling Ainge and ownership were perfectly fine with sending him on his way as long as the team got back compensation.

"I think Danny understood that paying a coach $7 million a year for the next three years, and maybe not win, that’s a lot," said Rivers, who signed a three-year deal which will pay him the same in Los Angeles. "So I think ownership (agreed). Pags, when I talked to him on Sunday, said, ‘We’d love you to stay. I’ve heard that you’ve decided to stay. But, obviously, if we can get a pick and we can get off your contract, that’s good too.’ "

Rivers said he thought right after the Celtics lost Game 6 of the first round against the New York Knicks that he would take a year off from coaching — do television and travel around the country watching college games. But, shortly thereafter, Ainge came out publicly and said Rivers would definitely return to the Boston bench.

"I didn’t intend to irritate anybody in this," Rivers said. "Danny went out and made a statement that I was coming back to coach, and I hadn’t told him that."

That led to a meeting on May 8 — which they both agree took place — in which Ainge said he was surprised when Rivers asked him about his options for next season. The next day, Ainge said the team sent Rivers the letter he either never received or simply ignored.

"I can tell you I’ve never read that letter," he said. "I’ve never seen that letter. I am sure that he did send it."

From there, Rivers allowed that he remained non-committal up until the weekend when he pledged to go all in on next season in Boston, with a stipulation.

"On Sunday I called and said, ‘Hey, listen, I’m staying. I’m coming back. I’m going to give you everything I have in rebuilding,’ " Rivers said. "I told him you just have to understand that I have to do it year to year, and Danny was fine with that.

"Then two hours later he called back and said that the deal’s done. It’s not like they didn’t get anything out of this."

While both Ainge and Rivers claim their personal relationship remains strong through this ordeal, it’s clear that one — or both — is either massaging the timeline, or at the very least remembering it in a way that clears the conscience of responsibility in the breakup of a nine-year marriage.

"This is not something I was in by myself," Rivers said. "This is something me and Danny agreed on that was the right thing to do."

It’s just that they don’t quite agree on exactly why, and how, it all came to this.

Scott Souza can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @scott_souza.

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